A guide to quickly mastering Zulu Network

Author: sisi, LiChris
With the emergence of the Ordinals protocol, standards and protocols such as BRC20 and ARC20 have been spawned. However, issues such as high transaction fees and slow transaction speeds on the Bitcoin mainnet have become increasingly prominent, posing significant obstacles to the further development of Bitcoin ecosystem Layer 2 projects. At the same time, another issue that cannot be ignored—the security risks of asset management—has also attracted more attention, due to the inherent limitations of Bitcoin's scripting mechanism, which makes it difficult to achieve Turing completeness directly. Against this backdrop, Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions have emerged.
However, due to the current Bitcoin ecosystem lacking continuously explosive and attractive phenomenal applications, aside from a few play styles like inscriptions, runes, and swaps, coupled with the aforementioned high transaction fees, many users are not well-acquainted with the actual interactive operations of Bitcoin Layer 2, including Zulu Network. Therefore, this article aims to introduce the development history of Zulu Network, helping more users familiarize themselves with the interaction process and ultimate vision of Zulu Network, allowing some to step into the grand ecological landscape of Bitcoin.

1. What is Zulu Network? What problems does it aim to solve?

The Zulu Network team was established in 2023, and after a year of steady development, it has gained a certain influence in the Bitcoin Layer 2 track. In early April 2024, the Zulu Network testnet successfully launched and has been running smoothly ever since. Currently, the number of registered users on the Zulu testnet has exceeded 700,000, processing over 12 million transactions. At the same time, Zulu Network successfully completed a $3 million Pre-Seed round of financing that month, with investors including well-known institutions such as Cryptogram Venture and D11 Labs.

The reason Zulu Network has attracted the favor of the capital market lies in its representation as one of the most representative Bitcoin Layer 2 solutions. Zulu Network is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 platform to implement a dual-layer architecture (L2 and L3). Zulu Network is building new infrastructure to address many limitations present in the Bitcoin network mentioned earlier, employing programmable, scalable, and innovative methods to optimize the Bitcoin ecosystem, aiming to open the doors of the Bitcoin ecological economy to all developers and users.

2. Zulu Network, Zulu Prime, Zulu Nexus L3—what's the difference?

In simple terms: Zulu Network is the industry's first Bitcoin Layer 2 platform built by the Zulu team that implements a dual-layer architecture (L2 and L3), proposed as an innovative solution to the main issues currently facing the Bitcoin ecosystem; while ZuluPrime and ZuluNexus L3 are two important features adopted by Zulu Network to solve these problems. The relationship among the three can be briefly illustrated in the following diagram.

Specifically, ZuluPrime (EVM) is an L2 platform compatible with EVM, aimed at establishing a new BitFi (Bitcoin DeFi) ecosystem through smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps). ZuluPrime serves as the foundation of Zulu Network, a second-layer solution on the Bitcoin network, built on the zero-knowledge (ZK) stack of zkSync. Its main goal is to introduce Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatibility to the Bitcoin network, providing stable and mature DeFi applications and financial services.

On the other hand, ZuluNexus (UTXO) is an L3 platform that integrates UTXO scalability, focusing on innovation within the original Bitcoin ecosystem and native assets. ZuluNexus introduces a brand-new virtual machine (VM) architecture that, while not supporting EVM compatibility, can support both UTXO and account types simultaneously. This design retains the basic functionalities of Bitcoin while introducing new features, providing space for developers to innovate.
ZuluNexus, as an innovative layer, is designed for seamless interaction with ZuluPrime, with its state change verification relying on the validation network and the Bitcoin network, requiring completion of proofs from ZuluPrime. The key innovation of ZuluNexus lies in its virtual machine (VM), which not only integrates asset types from BTC and ETH (UTXO and accounts) but also enhances the functionality of the UTXO model, making UTXO-based smart contract development possible. ZuluPrime and ZuluNexus are connected through an official bridge, enabling rapid asset transfers.

3. What are Zulu - BitVM Bridge and Zulu - BitVM Swap?

If you are an experienced on-chain interaction player, you should already be able to discern the purposes of these two applications from their names. Indeed—Zulu-BitVM Bridge and Zulu-BitVM Swap are primarily used for cross-chain Bitcoin assets. The difference lies in that Zulu-BitVM Bridge provides a 1:1 direct correspondence for Bitcoin network asset values on the second layer through a bi-directional anchoring mechanism. As mentioned earlier, the Bitcoin scripting mechanism is difficult to achieve Turing completeness; therefore, BitVM Bridge is best suited for large amounts of BTC with a fixed quantity.
In contrast, Zulu-BitVM Swap, through the collaboration of ZuluNexus and ZuluPrime, is much more flexible, suitable for any amount of BTC, and can provide cross-chain services for everyday users. Its principle lies in enhancing the programmability of Bitcoin, allowing Zulu's BitVM to interact with its second layer (L2) using zero-knowledge proofs (ZKP), greatly improving the efficiency of asset cross-chain transactions.

4. How to earn Zulu Genesis Points (ZGP)?

On May 17, the Zulu Network testnet activity Lwazi released version V4, which introduced additional rewards for Twitter links and effective friend invitations, optimized existing tasks, updated the interface layout, and improved bridge history for smoother and more efficient user operations.

• How to access the activity page?

Log in to the Zulu Network official website (https://zulunetwork.io/) and enter the [Lwazi] activity page;

• What tasks need to be completed?

After entering the [Lwazi] activity page, follow the prompts to complete tasks such as connecting your wallet, visiting and following Zulu Network's X account, joining Zulu Network's Discord, Telegram, etc., to earn ZGP points.

• What new tasks are available to earn ZGP?

In addition to the regular tasks mentioned above, users can also earn ZGP by trading or providing/removing liquidity activities on Zulu Network's AdamSwap, with a maximum of 500 ZGP that can be earned daily. For detailed participation tutorials, please click link.
Additionally, for more latest tasks, please follow Zulu Network's official X account and Discord
https://twitter.com/zulu_network and https://discord.com/invite/ZVaQPjhxTG

5. How to add the Zulu Testnet network in TP Wallet?

Users first need to add the Zulu Testnet network in TP Wallet, with the following steps:

• Open TP Wallet, click the button in the upper left corner to bring up the wallet list, and click the "+" button.

• The "Select Network" interface will appear; scroll to the bottom and click "Add Custom Network."

• After entering the following information in the custom network, click save:

Network Name: Zulu Testnet
Node Link (RPC): https://rpc-testnet.zulunetwork.io
Chain ID: 90104
Native Coin Symbol: ZULU

• In the network selection, click the Zulu Testnet you just saved. If you don't have a wallet, click "Create Wallet" and follow the prompts to create your wallet.

• After the wallet creation is complete, you will see your wallet information in the Zulu Testnet network.

6. How to claim ZULU test tokens

Users can connect to Zulu's Discord and claim ZULU test tokens from our "faucet."
Join Zulu Network's Discord: https://discord.com/invite/ZVaQPjhxTG

In the Zulu Community section of Discord, you will find the #testnet-faucet channel.
To use the faucet, simply send this message: @Zulu Testnet Faucet 【your wallet address】.
Example:

7. How to add tokens in the Zulu Testnet network

• In the wallet of the Zulu Testnet network, click the plus sign on the right and select "Custom Token."

• Taking zbtc as an example, enter the zbtc token contract, click "Save," and then click "Add."

The contract information for adding tokens is as follows (Name: Address):
sats: 0x400F2D07FB6D910Db8494d68EB792E4757D11337
ordi: 0x3AbC143b36e0F3451efF5b98F91E2ECC803103E3
rats: 0x6D0f4478a2545dBC262BbF55E7fC0E917046542C
mice: 0x9d1A568b53910c9909CA68821052EAEfFC1aB619
.com: 0x923bF4A716B802BE362104Dc6C65970598667686
zbtc: 0x11ea382E04d54B73610e7A96f259303e385C5e8a

8. How to use the Zulu Bridge testnet (using TP Wallet as an example)

Open the Zulu Bridge testnet website in your mobile browser: https://testnet.zulunetwork.io/bridge

• Click "Connect Wallet" in the upper right corner, select "Zulu Testnet," and click "ALL Wallets" below. In ALL Wallets, select TP Wallet.

• Choose to open this page in TP Wallet, and the page will redirect to TP Wallet. Follow the prompts to select "Connect Wallet."

• When the page redirects back to the Zulu Bridge testnet webpage, wait a few seconds to complete the wallet connection.

• Withdraw: From Zulu Testnet to Bitcoin Testnet

In the Amount dialog box, click the dropdown list on the right, select zbtc, enter the Amount, and fill in the user's BRC-20 address for receiving cross-chain assets, then click "Withdraw." Next, select "Open" in the pop-up prompt.

• In the transaction details that pop up, select "Confirm," enter your wallet password, and click "Confirm" to complete the transaction.

About Zulu Network

Zulu Network is the first Bitcoin Layer 2 with a dual-layer architecture. ZuluPrime is EVM-compatible for scaling and BitFi; ZuluNexus provides UTXO programmability, a unique solution that continuously supports native Bitcoin innovations (cheaper, faster, scalable, and programmable).